Second
by taee
Summary: Elesis wouldn't think it would be possible to love somebody because of the way they love another, but then she'd be contradicting herself, because that's why she loves Ain. [Follows the basic storyline]


SECOND

Elesis first meets him after reuniting with Elsword, and he introduces himself with a smile. "Nice to meet you. My name is Ain. I'm a priest."

The only thing that runs through her head is _liar liar liar liar_. Still, she smiles back, every bit the poised leader of the Red Knights that the people see her as, and says, "I'm Elesis. Thank you for watching over my brother. It must've been quite troublesome."

He laughs gently. Fakely. "Not at all. He's fun to be around. And he has an incredible energy," he adds, as an afterthought.

Elesis follows the cues, laughing along in agreement, while simultaneously screaming in her mind for him to _get away get away stay away from my brother_ , because she swears when he looks at Elsword, he doesn't even see him as human, only as a curious object. And it's fine that he looks through, instead of at, the rest of them, but if he were to lose his curiosity in Elsword, and were to look at him as if he was an expendable tool, Elesis would not stand for it. Elsword is her dear little brother. He is not expendable, and Elesis will not let him be used.

(It's for this same reason that later, when Add tags along to chase after Eve, Elesis instantly dislikes, if not despises, him as well. But although Add hides pain in his heart, there is a rude sort of honesty in his words that Elesis can appreciate and Ain lacks.)

There eventually comes a time when Elesis is so accustomed to his lies and his impeccable mask, that she nearly forgets to watch out for them. _Dangerous_ , she reminds herself. _Do not trust._ She makes mistakes, she is only human, after all. Sometimes Elesis catches herself taking attention off of Elsword's back on the battlefield because Ain is doing it too, finds herself sleeping soundly when he is on watch, even lets him be alone with Elsword. _Dangerous,_ she reminds herself. _Be wary._

Later, when Elesis realizes that the curiosity Ain had, has, for Elsword, hasn't faded at all, she relaxes even more. The thought that she might've been overly paranoid crosses her mind as well. He hasn't purposely harmed her brother or the El search party in any way, and he has her brother's approval.

So she privately declares a truce. Relaxes a bit.

For a while, all is well. Ain continues to be smiley and helpful and a liar, and Elesis gives him the benefit of the doubt. It's better for her this way too. She gets more rest, fights better.

Watching the red-haired siblings wrestle, Aisha points it out too. "You look….lighter recently, Elesis."

"Do I?" She laughs. Ain isn't within her line of sight, and for once, she doesn't care. "I hope that's a good thing."

Aisha grins. "It is."

All is well until it's not. It happens when Elsword accepts another plea for help from someone they come across on their journey. Irritation cracks Ain's mask, and his gaze changes. His face looks like anger, confusion. It says unnecessary, pointless, both very not good when directed at Elsword, and Elesis' defenses are up again.

Call her overprotective, say she's overreacting, but Elesis won't take any chances. The El Party is full of warnings against that. Chung, who couldn't protect his kingdom. Eve, whose people became corrupted and extinct. Ara, whose family died and her beloved brother, demonized, and Raven, betrayed by a close friend, with his fiancee and friends all cold in the ground. There were too many stories of loss in their group, and Elesis would be damned before either she or Elsword joined those ranks. He's the only one she has.

The silent war starts up again, but this time it's worse, at least for Elesis, since it coincides with a sudden increase in demon attacks and the incorporation of Lu and Ciel, demons, into their midst. They introduce themselves proudly as a former leader of the demons, and her contracted. Then there are three Elesis needs to watch for, as her brother is far too trusting, so incredibly naive and stupid that it's a miracle he hasn't been betrayed by any of the many he considers a friend yet.

Elesis watches.

She tries Ciel's cookies before Elsword inevitably takes one. She makes sure she walks behind everyone and fights with Elsword in her sight. She doesn't sleep, she dozes. She does a lot of things.

"Are you ok, Elesis?" Ara asks one afternoon, when Elesis blanks out during a discussion about attack plans.

"I'm fine. Good," she replies, mentally berating herself for losing focus. What if someone had attacked in her moment of inattention?

"You look very tired."

"I'm fine, really. It's probably just the lighting," she insists, and Ara drops the conversation. Elesis can't show weakness. Not ever, but especially not here, in front of so many potential hostile parties and her brother. The sister he strives to reach cannot be so frail and vulnerable.

It carries on like this for a few months, and Elesis' condition only becomes worse, to the point that it comes to almost no surprise to anyone when she falls against her sword to the ground after a particularly hard battle. The only surprise comes from the fact that she hits herself harder than any demon has and still attempts to stand. Of course she fails, and the next time she wakes up, it's almost two days later.

Elesis wakes up to an obnoxious crunching noise. Turning her head to the right, she finds Ciel reading a dessert cookbook and Lu eating cookies with tea.

"Oh. You're awake," Lu remarks. Ciel closes his cookbook.

"...Where's Elsword? Is he alright?" Putting aside how she feels about having demons watching her while she was unconscious, her brother comes first.

"Somewhere. Does it matter?" The demon eats another cookie. "He's fine though. Worried, but fine."

Elesis gets up, relieved to find her sword placed within reach. Until Ciel grabs it and props it against their tea table instead. She would've lunged forward and tackled him, if not for the sudden wave of dizziness that hits her.

"Relax." Lu orders, a hint of her previous majesty showing through. "We're here to talk, not to defeat you. And in that condition, you wouldn't be able to do much anyways."

Ciel pulls out a chair for her. "Come sit."

She sits.

He wipes the crumbs from Lu's face, and she begins speaking again. "I guess we should offer you an apology. Our being here has caused you an excessive amount of stress that lead to your current condition. It's fine that you can't trust us, and fear us because we are demons. I'm used to it, so is Ciel." She shrugs flippantly. "Usually, I wouldn't care at all about the opinions of mere peasants, but you fainting slowed us down a lot, and lowered the overall performance of the entire group. That's troublesome, so I decided to intervene. Keep in mind that Ciel and I can't help what we are, so we won't change or back down because you can't accept that. I hope you'll be more reasonable and judge us for who we are. If you can't do that, then just know that our intentions are not bad. We don't aim to subjugate humans, and we won't hurt any of you. Especially your brother, since he is not too unpleasant to be around. However, if you'd like to stress yourself to death again, then go ahead, we won't stop you." Lu stands up, sweeping out of the medical room, Ciel on her heels.

At the door, he turns. "Come have tea with us sometime. You can have more than one cookie."

Elesis doesn't have time to digest either of their words before a sloppy blur of red comes barreling into the room, throwing armor covered arms across her waist.

"Elsword!"

"Elsa! You're ok!"

"Get off me you idiot! Of course I'm ok. I was just a little tired." She frees herself from his grasp and forces him into a chair. The rest of the El gang file in much more sedately.

Ara stumbles over. "How are you feeling?" She asks worriedly, ever the adorable worrywart. Elesis usually forgets that Ara is older than her.

"I'm feeling good," she replies. This time it's true.

An hour later, she's caught up with everything she missed ("Just another battle." Chung says.). When she yawns, mother hen Rena hustles everyone out the door and tells her to get some more rest.

She doesn't though, not with so much to think about, and another unexpected visitor.

Ain stands at her bedside, face stony.

"One question," he says.

"What?" Elesis is thoroughly confused.

"Your absence has caused Elsword unnecessary worry. And you have been doubting me since the day we met. So I will answer one of your questions truthfully. My answer may change something and hopefully prevent such a scenario from happening again."

His reply and concern for Elsword seem surprisingly genuine.

"...Who are you?"

Ain smiles, and it's the first real smile she's seen him wear. "I am Ain." Then he walks out the door, closing it behind him.

Elesis sighs to the empty room. "...That changes absolutely nothing."

This time, Elesis is the one to lie.

A few weeks later, Elesis brings up her concerns with Rena.

"I see." The elf hums. "It's alright if you're suspicious. But I think the root of the problem is that you don't trust the rest of us enough."

"But I trust you guys!" She protests.

"Not enough. You don't have to be the only one to watch over Elsword, you know? Aren't we capable of that as well?"

Elesis turns the words over in her head. Doesn't she trust them enough?

Rena touches her shoulder. "We're family! We'll protect Elsword when you can't, we'll help him when you can't. You're not the only one who loves him. And the same goes for you. We've got your back also. Don't forget that. I'd also suggest that you take Ciel and Lu's offer of tea. Lu is cute when you get to know her, and Ciel's cookies really are the best. You're lucky to get more than one!"

Elesis does take that offer, but only after six months have passed. During those six months, she tosses Rena's advice around her head often. She believes in fairness, equivalent exchange, and since everyone is looking after her and Elsword, she must look after them more as well. And she hasn't been fair to Lu and Ciel, that she knows.

"Can I join you guys?" Elesis asks the demon duo, scratching the back of her neck awkwardly.

As before, Ciel pulls a chair seemingly out of nowhere for her. "Of course."

"Thank you," she says. "So. Hi. Nice weather?" Because while she can lead an army of knights and rally the strength of hundreds if not thousands, at the end of the day she's still an awkward teen and the art of conversation is lost to her.

Lu laughs with her whole body. Her arms and legs flail, and even her twintails move along, rippling like silver fishes in the dim light. She almost tumbles off the chair, but Ciel, always ready, is there to catch her.

"It's raining!" She squeaks, wiping a tear from her eye. "Back in the demon realm, it rained almost every day, so it's normal. But I don't think this kind of weather fits your human standards. Unless you're a demon too?"

Elesis flushes. "I was trying to be friendly!"

Lu smirks and snaps her fingers. "Ciel, show her how to actually be friendly."

"Have a cookie." Ciel offers the platter to her while pouring her a cup of tea.

It's strange, to say the least, having tea and cookies with demons when she'd tried to scourge the land of their kind just a year or two prior. She was still doing it now, actually.

The tea is good, and the cookie is a new kind, but still incredibly delicious; buttery and crispy with hints of cinnamon and vanilla. She tells Ciel this, and he nods proudly while Lu exclaims, "Of course! He's my Ciel! What did you expect?" Ciel looks embarrassed, but glad. They're cute together, Elesis decides.

Elesis might not be a good conversationalist, but Lu is friendly, and good at getting along with people, so there are no awkward silences or pauses.

She learns random things about the two. Lu doesn't like meat ("I've never met a vegetarian demon before." "Well now you have!"), Ciel likes cute things, especially Lu and phorus ("But recently, Miss Lu has grown up a little, so she's not that cute anymore," he whispers conspiratorially.), and that they are both kind, though she might've known that already.

"You're nice," she says.

"I wasn't like this before. I used to be one of those cruel demons that you want to kill so desperately, but Ciel changed me. I'm not sure if this way is better or worse, but since it's Ciel, it's fine with me. He's the only one I have." Then Lu smiles peacefully, looking not quite a queen, but definitely a noblesse. Ciel stands by her elbow, fully devoted, and just from looking at him, Elesis knows he'd follow Lu all the way down to hell, not because he's contracted with her, but because he knows that she'd do the same for him.

The conversation continues on as the rain stops and Elesis finishes her second cookie, until it lands on the topic of Ain.

"He doesn't like me, hates me, probably," Lu says. "And he's not what he says he is." She doesn't elaborate.

"But I'm surprised that you dislike him," Ciel continues.

"Why?"

"He's very attached to Elsword. Can't you tell?"

"...I could. But I don't like liars," she admits.

"True. He's a liar. But Ain is about as likely to hurt Elsword on purpose as you are, so you don't always need to put him under surveillance," Lu suggests.

"...Ok." And that's that. It's not like Elesis immediately clears Lu and Ciel of suspicion; she still won't turn her back on them for too long, she's still careful when Elsword is with them, but some things are changed for the better. These small steps are good too.

What Elesis purposely didn't mention is that recently she doesn't keep an eye on Ain because she's worried about betrayal, it's because she's noticed something different about him.

It's something in his eyes. Before, he had cold eyes, and only some mild interest in Elsword, but now, there was something like love in them.

It wasn't Aisha's love, or Chung's friendly love, or Elesis' brotherly love. It was just. Different. Elesis can't get used to it, especially when Ain's newfound warmth spreads to the rest of the gang too.

He's still hiding secrets, but he seems more genuine and actually caring of what happens to them.

Elesis can't get used to it, so she confronts him.

"What is it, Ms. Knight Captain?"

"What is wrong with you recently?"

Ain raises an impossibly perfect eyebrow. "Nothing."

"What do you mean nothing? You've been actually dependable lately, and that's not normal at all."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"It is. But still. I want to know why." Elesis realizes all of a sudden that this is the first time she actively sought out a conversation with Ain. And now that she's closer, she notices that his skin is completely flawless.

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, right?"

Elesis frowns. It's not just his skin. His proportions are also perfect. She hasn't seen that kind of perfection on anyone except Eve, Rena, and Lu, who are all _not human_.

"Your spiritualism form-"

"If there's nothing important, I'll go now," he says, escaping to Elsword's side, where she can't continue her interrogation.

And once again Ain plagues her thoughts, but this time, it's centered around one question. What is he?

She watches endlessly, and she never learns anything new. Ain might be more friendly, but he still keeps his cards close and doesn't share anything real or substantial about himself. It's frustrating to say the least. She does learn, however, that Ain is always there for Elsword. Always, always, always.

During yet another demon invasion, Elesis battles with a general, and as she goes in for the kill, she hears Aisha scream. "Elsword!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Elesis sees a shadow leap at Elsword's unprotected back, and all she can think is _nonononononono not Elsword please no nonononono._

Then there's Ain, glowing white, radiating holy power, in the way, taking the blow instead of Elsword. Aisha quickly dispatches the offending demon, and Elesis' limbs find their functions again.

Elesis is furious. Is it because she couldn't protect her brother? Is it because Elsword almost died? Is it because Ain is hurt? There are far too many reasons, and Elesis is far too angry to think on it more. So she channels her emotions into her sword, cutting a path towards Elsword and Ain's prone body, while her teammates spread out and annihilate the rest of the invaders.

When it's over, Elesis is the one to carry Ain to the infirmary, his blood staining her hands and clothes. It's red.

Then Elesis walks around thanking everyone. Rena, first. Aisha, then the entire group, and when Ain wakes up the next day, Elsword and Elesis are there to thank him too.

"It's fine. As long as you're not hurt, Elsword," he replies.

After Elsword leaves, Elesis has something left to say. "Last time when I was here, you gave me a question. This time, you're here from protecting Elsword, so I'll give you a favor too. I still don't know what you are, but I'll let it lie for now."

She doesn't search any further for any skeletons he might have in his closet, even when she finds that the wounds on his back that should've scarred don't scar, she lets it go. And when that selfless little shit she calls a brother jumps headfirst into a glowing rock, she completely forgets she'd had doubts in the first place. More accurately, they all forget about Ain's existence and past role in their life.

As they're about to depart to bring Elsword back, Rena brings it up. "Don't you feel that someone other than Elsword is missing?"

And Elesis really does feel it.

But Elsword comes back, and so does Ain and the memories associated with him. Everyone seems to forget about the short period when "Ain" didn't exist. Elesis doesn't. She figures that it's because she's spent so long watching him that without him, her travels wouldn't make a shred of sense. It's an irritating revelation, that everything she's done so far is somehow related to someone she doesn't like that much, but it's not surprising in any way. Even Elesis can admit that she'd been acting borderline stalkerish. Almost like Add, a scary thought she doesn't even want to try to entertain.

Time carries on, and so does the El Search Party.

Underneath the ground, in the Debrian Laboratory, they pick up Rose and her flying smiley face Zero. For once, Elesis doesn't follow Elsword and instead chooses to stay with Ain and the rest, when she sees his hand flicker in and out of existence. If he were to disappear again, Elesis would. Feel sad? Cry?

At this point, Elesis doesn't know what Ain is to her. He's a chronic liar, but he is also someone who loves Elsword as much as she does. That fact alone places Ain in the gray area between neutral and like. But how close is he to like?

She shoves those useless questions out of her head because Ain is falling and she has to catch him. Ain is there but he also isn't, like a flashlight that can't decide whether it should stay on or off.

It doesn't take long before Lu storms over, Ciel, Ara, Elsword trailing behind, and shoves everyone away from Ain, before placing something, the seed of life, on his chest.

They have a conversation about Elria and Henir energy and the nature of it that Elesis can't follow with her jumbled mind.

Then Ain's voice cuts through the fog. "I'll trust you." Which Elesis never thought she'd hear him say in her life.

Miracles never cease, as moments later, when a dark piece of Henir energy is absorbed into the seed, Ain apologizes to Lu. Elesis nearly misses the historic moment, out of the overwhelming relief that settles on her shoulders when she realizes that he is still here. Elsword is safe, the El Party is safe, Ain is safe, and all is right with the world.

A year after Ain's second almost disappearance, Elesis is still looking at him. She doesn't purposely try to, it's just that when she observes Elsword and his surroundings, Ain is always there.

As Elesis watches Ain watch Elsword, she finds that Ain has passed the like category long ago and gone straight into love.

Elesis wouldn't think it would be possible to love somebody because of the way they love another, but then she'd be contradicting herself, because that's why she loves Ain.

"And that's why I love you, too." Ain tells her one day when they team up for their favorite hobby of Elsword-watching. It makes her happy.

If Elesis had thought having tea with a future demon queen and her guard was strange, whatever she has with Ain is stranger. Between battles and work, they're able to squeeze out some time to be together, but a quarter of the time when they're together, all they talk about is Elsword. The second quarter they spend sparring, to become stronger and protect Elsword and the rest of the gang better. The third quarter is for miscellaneous topics. Reminiscing, discussing battle plans, different ways to braid hair, etc. The last quarter is spent just sitting in silence, since Ain is an even poorer conversationalist than Elesis is. But it's comfortable, since neither Elesis nor Ain are the type to be bothered by the quiet. They're content to sit side by side and listen to each other's breathing and heartbeat.

And Elsword is always first.

It's not Ain, it's not Elesis; they can be second for each other.

First will always be Elsword.

So if Ain would sooner save Elsword than Elesis, it's fine, because she would do the same to him.

Like most relationships, theirs is far from the ideal.

But that's just how they are, and Elesis wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

A/N: I sort of rushed the ending bc I'm out of time and I got tired

I think I'll probably pause my other fic that centers around Elsword and Aisha to finish this one, so if you read Cyclamen, I'm sorry! But Ain and Elesis are my OTP, so yeah. There's probably only going to be one more chapter for this one though, so I might be able to update Cyclamen by next week.  
Also, what is their ship name. Literally no one ships this. I'm ninety nine percent certain this is the second Ain x Elesis fanfic on this website. Why the second one? Bc I wrote the probable first one too. People! Write for them! They're good together! Anyways, I was thinking of grandchase (bc chase from Ainchase, and grand from the game grand chase that elesis was originally from) or something like elechase? idk everytime I look at that it reminds me of elephant. Other random ship name ideas: ainlesis, eleain, fja;flknvbheiocn  
They all sound terrible someone pls help


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